James Randi, the celebrated magician, has written a damning indictment of the faith-healing practices of the leading televangelists and others who claim divine healing powers. Randi and his team of researchers attended scores of “miracle services” and often were pronounced “healed” of the nonexistent illnesses they claimed. They viewed first-hand the tragedies resulting from the wide-spread belief that faith healing can cure every conceivable disease. The ministries, they discovered, were rife with deception, chicanery, and often outright fraud.
Self-anointed ministers of God convince the gullible that they have been healed–and that they should pay for the service. The Faith Healers examines in depth the reasons for belief in faith healing and the catastrophic results for the victims of these hoaxes. Included in Randi’s book are profiles of a highly profitable “psychic dentist,” and the “Vatican-approved wizard.”
“… an in-depth uncovering of greed, cynicism, and chicanery among faith healers of America … a crucial book for anyone who wishes to deal with the awesome issue of sincerity in the complex phenomenon called religion.”
– Perspectives in Religious Studies
“No matter what your belief, you won’t come away from this book without some re-examining.”
– Mensa Bulletin
“Any reader who stays with him as he exposes one flimflam artist after another will discover important points about our apparently limitless capacity for self-delusion.”
– New Age Journal
“… a thorough and complete indictment of all faith healers.”
– Christian Chronicle
“A fascinating look at a world of misplaced faith and blind trust that seems more appropriate to the Dark Ages than to the end of the 20th century.”
– Toronto Sun
“Leading evangelists such as Oral Roberts, Peter Popoff, W. V. Grant, Pat Robertson, and others are all shown to use tactics that are at best misleading, to guide the faithful into believing that they have been supernaturally cured by prayer alone. At worst, some of these men are shown to be cynical frauds preying on the desperation of the seriously ill.”
– School Library Journal